Humanism, Secularism, Feminism

Taslima Nasreen

Taslima Nasreen, an award-winning writer, physician, secular humanist and human rights activist, is known for her powerful writings on women oppression and unflinching criticism of religion, despite forced exile and multiple fatwas calling for her death. In India, Bangladesh and abroad, Nasreen’s fiction, nonfiction, poetry and memoir have topped the best-seller’s list.

Taslima Nasreen was born in Bangladesh. She started writing when she was 13. Her writings won the hearts of people across the border and she landed with the prestigious literary award Ananda from India in 1992. Taslima won The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought from the European Parliament in 1994. She received the Kurt Tucholsky Award from Swedish PEN, the Simone de Beauvoir Award and Human Rights Award from Government of France, Le Prix de l' Edit de Nantes from the city of Nantes, France, Academy prize from the Royal Academy of arts, science and literature from Belgium. She is a Humanist Laureate in The International Academy for Humanism,USA. She won Distinguished Humanist Award from International Humanist and Ethical Union, Free-thought Heroine award from Freedom From Religion foundation, USA., IBKA award, Germany,and Feminist Press Award, USA . She got the UNESCO Madanjeet Singh prize for Promotion of the Tolerance and Non-violence in 2005. She received the Medal of honor of Lyon. She got honorary citizenship from Paris, Nantes, Lyon, Metz, Thionville, Esch etc. Taslima was awarded the Condorcet-Aron Prize at the “Parliament of the French Community of Belgium” in Brussels and Ananda literary award again in 2000.

Bestowed with honorary doctorates from Gent University and UCL in Belgium, and American University of Paris and Paris Diderot University in France, she has addressed gatherings in major venues of the world like the European Parliament, National Assembly of France, Universities of Sorbonne, Oxford, Harvard, Yale, etc. She got fellowships as a research scholar at Harvard and New York Universities. She was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow in the USA in 2009.

Taslima has written 35 books in Bengali, which includes poetry, essays, novels and autobiography series. Her works have been translated in thirty different languages. Some of her books are banned in Bangladesh. Because of her thoughts and ideas she has been banned, blacklisted and banished from Bengal, both from Bangladesh and West Bengal part of India. She has been prevented by the authorities from returning to her country since 1994, and to West Bengal since 2007.

EVENTS

Patriarchal Mindset

Women in India have been suffering from all kinds of oppression for centuries. Finally they are angry and take to the streets. A brutal gang rape in Delhi has triggered demands for stricter laws and swifter prosecutions.

Tens of thousands of Indians poured onto the streets in protest against the violent gang rape of a woman in Delhi last week. They were water cannoned,baton-charged, tear gassed by the police. Instead of beating rapists, police beat rape-protesters. What a shame! Women get raped in India every 20 minutes. But the authority doesn’t want women to protest against rape. Not even for 20 minutes.

I joined the protest march in Delhi yesterday. I was moved by a large number of men in the protest march. Rape is a male thing. It’s a crime against humanity. Rape will not end until men decide to end rape. I strongly believe women’s safety is not a women’s issue, it’s a Human Rights issue. Every human should join the march.

Many Indians still believe that rapes occur only in rural areas and only illiterate poor people like bus drivers, fruit sellers, rickshaw pullers rape. They do not want to believe that ‘educated’ people like doctors, engineers, professors, scientists, philosophers rape too. Women closed their eyes and kept their mouths shut for a very long time. It’s time to expose famous film makers/producers/stars/authors/politicians/players etc. who sexually harass, assault, abuse, molest, rape women.

Many people say ‘mindset of men must be changed’. But the mindset does not fall from the sky. Men develop a fixed mindset while growing up in a patriarchal society that prefers sons to daughters, makes women live with in-laws and takes husband’s surnames,and gives men the right to control women’s body and mind, desires and wishes, rights and freedom. Patriarchal society teaches men and women since their early days that women are inferior to men, that women are just sex objects and sophisticated slaves.

Comments

I don’t actually have the statistics on hand, but I recall reading once that sex crimes are one of the few types of crimes that are not more strongly correlated with poverty or lack of education. I’m going to look for that information but if you can find any studies, they can be immensely helpful in debunking lots of rape myths.

Cops are the same shit all around the world, too. Look at those authoritarian bootlickers aiming their sticks – what fun! (And before someone tells me “not all cops are bad!” Yeah, those would be the ones that stayed home, right?)

Unless the protesters were being violent, why were they attacked? It’s pretty obvious who showed up looking for a fight.

Police protect the Patriarchy, not the common people. This happens with police officers everywhere, even in supposedly liberal Australia. There are always enough willing police officers to be brutal to any perceived threat to public order.

the perception that, the root of subjugation of women lies deeper in the culture and religion will take a long time to get in. still, such strong outburst of emotion and anger among irrespective women and men is itself a positive sign.

secondly,

the popular protest against rape may resulted from the angst of the middle class people, generally inclined to a hazard free 9 to 5 schedule. Had the Delhi rape victim been a girl from the lower strata of the society would there be a same response like this??? when a working class woman get sexually molested nobody shows any sympathy. In kolkata, the Park street rape victim still awaits justice… and thousands more…. while the offenders roam around freely and audaciously.

Awareness has to be created across; through print and electronic media that RAPE is a henious crime and the females should be respected at all times. Pamphlets should be distributed in all the major gatherinngs describing the importance of respecting females; Advertisements saying “SAY NO TO RAPE” should be circulated the way they did for family planning and to conter terrorism; special public announcements at important places should be carried out; brand owners of major products should use the packings to spread awareness for the same; every newspaper should have front page awareness campaign to be carried out for a good 5 years; water bottles should hav e bold representations of the anti rape campaign…. Please add more such ideas ;;;;;

IS this the biggest Democracy in World or Biggest brutal human rights violators in world? India will never develop if Indian youths sits and do nothing, hail for indian youth, bring the change, run the with the wind of change, CHANGE,

[…] Patriarchal Mindset Women in India have been suffering from all kinds of oppression for centuries. Finally they are angry and take to the streets. A brutal gang rape in Delhi has triggered demands for stricter laws and swifter prosecutions. A 23-year-old medical student was raped and beaten by six men on a Delhi bus. The sexual assault spanned several hours and left the woman close to death. Men inserted a metal rod into her vagina with so much force that her intestines were brought along when it was pulled out. The rapists saw rope like objects while raping. The woman is now battling for her life in a hospital. Tens of thousands of Indians poured onto the streets in protest against the violent gang rape of a woman in Delhi last week. They were water cannoned,baton-charged, tear gassed by the police. Instead of beating rapists, police beat rape-protesters. What a shame! Women get raped in India every 20 minutes. But the authority doesn’t want women to protest against rape. Not even for 20 minutes. Men do not stop raping. Even after brutal gang rape in the country’s capital, a 3-year-old girl raped in play-school in Delhi. During national outcry over Delhi Gang Rape, a 13-yr-old girl was killed after an attempted rape and an 11-yr-old girl was raped in Tamil Nadu.. While people were protesting gang rape, a women was gang raped,stripped naked,brutally beaten up & then tied to a tree. There is a war on women. Rape is just one of the weapons of war. I joined the protest march in Delhi yesterday. I was moved by a large number of men in the protest march. Rape is a male thing. It’s a crime against humanity. Rape will not end until men decide to end rape. I strongly believe women’s safety is not a women’s issue, it’s a Human Rights issue. Every human should join the march. Many Indians still believe that rapes occur only in rural areas and only illiterate poor people like bus drivers, fruit sellers, rickshaw pullers rape. They do not want to believe that ‘educated’ people like doctors, engineers, professors, scientists, philosophers rape too. Women closed their eyes and kept their mouths shut for a very long time. It’s time to expose famous film makers/producers/stars/authors/politicians/players etc. who sexually harass, assault, abuse, molest, rape women. Many people say ‘mindset of men must be changed’. But the mindset does not fall from the sky. Men develop a fixed mindset while growing up in a patriarchal society that prefers sons to daughters, makes women live with in-laws and takes husband’s surnames,and gives men the right to control women’s body and mind, desires and wishes, rights and freedom. Patriarchal society teaches men and women since their early days that women are inferior to men, that women are just sex objects and sophisticated slaves. Patriarchal mindset will remain as long as patriarchy remains. Main tere naseeb ki barish nahi Jo tujh pe baras jaon Tujhe taqdeer badalni hogi mujhe panay ke liye….!!!! मैं तेरे नसीब की बारिश नहीं जो तुझ पे बरस जाऊं, तुझे तकदीर बदलनी होगी मुझे पाने के लिए ….!!!! 'میں تیرے نصیب کی بارش نہیں جو تجھ پہ برس جاؤں تجھے تقدیر بدلنی ہوگی مجھے پانے کے لئے "I'm not the rain of your fortune that i'll fall on you.You've to change your fate in order to get me." Reply With Quote […]